eli5: Why does Iceland have such a low population?

Question

I’d like to hear some good explanations.

In: Other

Answer 1

It is a tiny volcanic Iceland on the arctic circle with a population density somewhere between Montana and North Dakota.

Only 1% of the land is arable, that means useful for growing crops and being so far north means there is a very small window of time to grow crops in. (North Dakota with a similar population density has about 88% of its land arable.)

Iceland is dependent on the ocean for food and has limited amounts of natural resources. This limits what people there can do.